Method of forming golf club grips



Jan. 17, 1950 J. E. MoDEvlT-r METHOD oF FORMING GOLF CLUB GRIPS l 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 17, 1947 Jan., M', i950 J. E. MCDEVITT 495mg METHOD oF FORMING GOLF CLUB GRIPS Filed March 1.7, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 17, 1950 ZAQSQ lMirib- STATES; PATENT ori-ics MEEIQD QF EOBMING CLUBGBIPS;

James E; McDevitigNow York, N. Y.

. Application March. 1.7, 19411 derlei N9 735.42.36.;

5; Qlaimsli The present. inventiony relates to. methods. for making golf club. grips...

It. has long been appreciated by golfers 'the-t.

in order to secure optimum results in playing any stroke. the shaft i. the self club used illust be s0. heldbythe player that it may` riet rotate; 0r turpin.- the player-s benda In ord-er tev minimize. the possibility of such'turning-l or rotation of the she-ft, which is generally 0i.. Wood or metal. and of relatively Smell diameter, it is eustemery to,4 en-y oase that. end of .the shafty which is customarily gripped by the player with some. material such as rubber, leather, o o-rk or the like, this covering being generally designated a golf vclub grip These grips are universally. applied to the club handles 0i. the Clubs Qi ell players, and, while it.. has previollSly beenV suggested that certain advantages mieht'bev realized if each, player. be pro.- vided with golf club gripsl which have been es.- pecially shaped to receive his rather than. the hands of any other,Y IlQIIiethOd of or appaff, ratus for forming a golf grr-ip, especially for one, individual` player has heretoferevbeen found to be feasible.

In accordance. with the. present invention arl.- entirely practical method Yfor individually fori-nf. ing sol-f club grips is preyided making itpossible .for the iirsttime for e player to. obtain for himselff. if, he se desires. e grip especially Shaped. t0.. rece-ive his hands. fer-earth et bis.. clubs. the meth.- od. et termine such. a Qi grips beine. of sue-l1. simple. nature that it maybe ear d eut quietly, without; requiring the. player himseli te devote any appreciable. time, to euere-.tiert` and. et relatively leu cest. This. improved. method will be. described in detail and -oneform oi.- apparatus which has been priiriarily-V designed. tof-abilitate the practice. of ther-method isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 show-s in side-elevation portion of the apparatus employed in the fior-"mation ofv a molded core having the impression off the players hands on its surface;

Figure 2 isV a longitudinal or axial section through the portion of the apparatus shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3r Lis a transverse section fon `line 3-3 of Figure 1;-

Figure @sho-'ws in side elevation a core rod upon which a bodyof rubber-has beenV placed, as by wrapping sheet rubberaround the rod, a blank being thus formed for subsequent molding operations;

Figure 5 shows in perspective the two halves off Z a. meld ip. which, the blank 0f. Figure 4 is finally Shared under heeftI and. pressure and Figure. 6, shows in. side elevation one of the Qllpleted golfA club` grips inw position on the shaft Qi e geli el11b.

Arressentialieetiire Qi the apparatus for fermlps the.V improved golfclub gripl is Shown in Fiellres, 1 2, epd. 3. and. comprises. the member l0. wpichmay be designated) a forming tube er forming member. This member is preferably tubular as shown, the outer diameter being such that the, hands oi aplayer.. Such, for instance. es those indieated at a andl chain lines, in Figure 1, may grip it exactly the same Way that theymay grip and hold a golf c lub shaft which has beenl ellcrqledj or enveloped by a grip. In other words, the diameter off the tubular member Ill is greater thanrthat o f the usual metal golf clubA shaft andH approximately the same as the diame ter ofj a cvonyentional g'olfj club grip, that is, the forming member I0.' of such diameter and length that it may be. grasped by a player in substantially the same manner that that player will grasp the grip of a golf-folub which he has alreadyA found to be of proper dimensions. If desired 'several forming members H), varying slightly in diameter, may be provided in order that the hands of all golfers seeking individualized grips may be accommodated. However, except for playersV handswhich are extraordinarily large orextraordinarily smal1, a single forming member- Hl will suffice.

It will be observed that member lli is tubularY and provided witha plurality of openings ll which flare outwardly, thus permitting plastic material forced into the tube fromv one end to pass outwardly at a plurality off points. It is not necessary that these openings have the shape il-y lustrated, as they mayv-ary widely in cross seetion, butpreferably they are grouped so that ylplast-io material forced outwardly Will for the most part enterthe space, which may be designated'a mold ehamben between the surface of the member IB and the hands of the helder.

w One end of the memberil) is provided with a cap lla-'Which maybe removed from time to time to facilitate cleaning of the bore and the other end has attached thereto or integral therewith one element 10a of a separable connector, the mating element being indicated at l2 and functioning to detachably connect the fiexible tube i3 to the member I0. Any suitable form of detachable connector may be employed.`

Mounted upon the forming member Ill is a short tube or sleeve lll,V this sleeve being slidable amano axially on member l and being designed and intended to function as a valve which may close a greater or smaller number, as desired, of the openings formed in the member I0 or, in other words, may be used to lengthen or shorten that portion of the member IIJ which is to be actually used in the operation of forming the grip, so that when the players hands cover only a portion of the perforated section of member I0 the perforations in the remainder may be closed and thus avoid waste of plastic material by insuring that plastic material is forced out only under the hands of the player.

After the hands of a player have been placed around the forming member I0 in the precise relative positions which they occupy when the player is grasping a club, a plastic material may be forced through the tube I3 into the interior of member I0 and this plastic material will issue from the perforations Il into the mold space defined by the inner surface of the players palms and fingers and the outer surface of the forming member. The plastic material may conveniently be sculptors wax and the pressure will be continued until the space between the players hands and the tube I0 is completely filled. Some of the extruded material will, of course, pass between and around the hands, and at some points the extruded layer of plastic will be relatively thin and at other areas will be relatively thick, depending upon the amount of space between the forming member and different parts of the players hands. A core which has been formed 4 rubber until a blank or mass such as indicated at 23 is mounted thereon. The rod with the rubber mass mounted thereon is then placed in the mold previously described and, by the .application of heat and pressure, the rubber is reduced to the precise form of the mold and vulcanized. When this operation is completed the halves of the mold are separated, the completed grip removed and the core rod 22 withdrawn. The completed grip, which is indicated at 25 in Figure 6, is then placed upon the shaft of the golf club which is indicated at 26. Due to the fact that the golf club grip 25 has been formed upon a core rod 22 which is of less diameter than in this way is indicated at I5 in Figures 2 and 3 jbut it will be appreciated that these cores will vary widely in appearance, depending upon the nature of the hand grip which has been adopted by the player. After the core l5 has been formed by the extrusion process described the player will remove his hands and the operator can trim and brush the core until it is smooth, as indicated in Figures 2 and 3. The core I5 will have impressed in its surface the precise impression of the players hands and it only remains to construct a mold having such conguration and by means of which the desired number of grips can be molded.

In order to construct the mold metal is deposited upon the surface of the core l5 by electro-` lytic or other methods S0 that the core then comprises a plastic body supported on forming member I0, the exterior surface of which body is metal coated. The for-ming member I0 is then withdrawn from the core, the cap l la being rst preferably removed so that the member may be freely withdrawn axially. Following this the wax upon which the metal has been disposed is melted away, and by a known casting process a block of light metal, for instance aluminum, is cast around the coated core, this operation resulting in the formation of a solid block of metal with a cavity having the exact surface configuration of that of the outer surface of the former hollow core. This block may be divided into two similar portions by sawing it longitudinally and the two portions, which are indicated at 20 and 2| in Figure 5, comprise two portions of a mold to be used in the formation of one or any number of golf club grips.

In forming such a grip rubber may be utilized and in one satisfactory process a core rod of metal, such as that indicated at 22 in Figure 4, and the diameter of which is slightly smaller than the diameter of the golf club shaft to which the grip is to be applied, is wound with sheet the shaft 26 of the club, it is necessary to stretch the grip somewhat in applying it to the golf club shaft. Hence the grip tends to retain its position when once so applied. In order that it may be denitely prevented from turning upon the shaft 26v at any time either the shaft or the interior of the grip is coated with glue before the application of the grip to the shaft. When the glue hardens it is impossible to turn the grip at any time. Naturally, before the glue is allowed to harden, the grip is turned to its correct position on the shaft, there being only one correct position for a grip which has been fabricated in the manner stated.

It has heretofore been proposed that golf grips fashioned to fit the hands of individual players may be fashioned with the aid of cores of plastic material lbearing the imprint of the players hands but in the practice of such methods plastic material has generally been placed upon a rod, such for instance as the core rod 22, and the player has been instructed to squeeze or press his hands into the plastic mass in order to shape it. Unless the plastic is extremely soft the player is not able to displace it sufhciently by contracting or gripping the core so that the impression which he makes truly represents the positions of his hands as he would like to have them. If the plastic employed is sufficiently soft to permit this to be done, it deforms and changes shape as soon as the player removes his hands. By the present method, however, the player is enabled to first position his hands upon the forming member exactly and precisely as he would prefer to have them each time he grasps a golf club shaft and, by merely holding his hands in the positions in which they have been carefully placed, and extruding the plastic material in the manner described, perfect hand impressions may be obtained upon the resulting core, and with the use of plastic material which is not of such soft nature that it will change shape as soon as the players hands are removed.

Once a mold has been formed any number of grips may -be fabricated at relatively small cost as the molds will last indefinitely. Various materials may be employed but the rubber grip, or grips of rubber composition, are eminently satisfactory in use and may be made with facility.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of forming a golf grip which comprises, causing the player to grasp a perforated tubular member, causing material which is plastic at ordinary temperatures to flow outwardly through the perforations in said member and engage the players hands so as to form a core the surface of which has the contour of the inner surfaces of the players palm and fingers when grasping a golf club, plating the surface of said core with metal to form a metallic shell thereon, removing the core from said shell, casting metal around said shell, severing the casting to form a two part mold, and utilizing the mold to form a grip to vbe applied to a golf club handle.

2. The method of forming a golf grip which comprises, causing the player to grasp a perforated tubular member, causing material which is plastic at ordinary temperatures to flow outwardly through the perforations in said member and engage the players hands so as to form a core the surface of which has the contour of the inner surfaces of the players palm and fingers when grasping a golf club, plating the surface of said core with metal to form a metallic shell thereon, withdrawing said member from said shell and removing the plastic core by the application of heat to said shell to cause it to flow, casting metal around said shell, severing the casting and shell to form a two part mold, and casting a golf grip in said mold.

3. The method of forming a golf club grip which comprises causing the player for whom the grip is to be made to grasp a tubular forming member the wall of which is perforated, and forcing a plastic material outwardly through the perforations of said tube while the player maintains his grasp.

4. The method of forming a golf club grip which comprises causing the player for whom the grip is to be made to grasp that portion of a tu-a bular forming member which is provided with openings for the passage of plastic materials, and forcing a plastic material which is iiowable at ordinary temperatures outwardly through said openings while the player maintains his grip.

5. The method of forming a golf club grip which comprises causing the player for whom the grip is made to grasp a core or forming member, flowing plastic material which is flowable at ordinary temperatures into all spaces intermediate the hands of the player and said forming member, and thereafter causing said player to release his grip without changing the outer contour of the body of plastic material outside of the forming member.

JAMES E. MCDEVITT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 49,310 Saberlich Aug. 8, 1865 412,479 Davis Oct. 8, 1889 706,775 Peano Aug. 12, 1902 1,813,880 Kraft July '7, 1931 2,121,718 Sweetland June 21, 1938 2,127,487 Voit Aug. 16, 1938 2,288,658 Stossel July 7, 1942 

